


Saint Michael's Mount

by Fabrisse



Category: Kingsman (Movies)
Genre: Intelligent Eggsy, Kingsman Reverse Bang 2019, Languages, M/M, Philology, Professor Merlin, Set in 1969
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-18
Updated: 2019-06-18
Packaged: 2020-05-14 07:12:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19268344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fabrisse/pseuds/Fabrisse
Summary: In the summer of 1969, Merlin, an Oxford Philology professor, comes to Cornwall during the long vac to study what's left of the Cornish language.  He meets Eggsy who is staying with his Aunt, and over the weeks Merlin's in Cornwall, a relationship develops.





	Saint Michael's Mount

He’d walked the two miles from Penzance, staring out over the bay toward St. Michael’s Mount which made him nearly miss the walkway to the cottage”s front door. He knocked and waited, hoping that the letter he’d sent had arrived in time. After some time had passed, he’d knocked again.

A young man carrying an armload of twigs came round the cottage. He said, “You must be the linguist? Doctor McKnight?”

“I… Yes. You are?”

The man shifted the twigs to the left and held out his right hand. “Eggsy. _Modrep_ Tegen can’t hear you. She’s in the kitchen. This is the countryside. Front door’s for marryin’ and buryin’.”

“Ah. She got my letter then.”

“Yes, and you’re expected, Doctor McKnight.”

“Please call me Merlin.”

“Merlin, then.” He walked the older man round the corner, placed his wood in the kindling box, and rinsed his hands at an outdoor faucet. “Sorry ‘bout that.” He opened a door painted bright blue, matching the one at the front, and said, “Tegen? The man who wanted to talk to you is here.”

“I can see, lad. My ears are gone, not my eyes.”

Eggsy winked at her and said, “Merlin, this is Tegen Pendray. _Modrep_ Tegen, Doctor McKnight, but he said call him ‘Merlin.’”

“Tea, Merlin?” Tegen asked and nodded to Eggsy who put the kettle on the stove and began to get out the good tea things. “Add yourself, Eggsy.”

“ _Meur Ras_ , Tegen.”

“So you speak Cornish, too?” Merlin said to Eggsy.

“Just a few words. Sometimes I’ll find links between Welsh and Cornish, but not many, as you can tell from ‘thank you.’” He brought cups, saucers, spoons, milk and sugar to the table on a tray. 

“So why are you visiting an old woman on your holiday?” Tegen asked Merlin.

“As I said in my letter, I’m a linguist. The p-Celtic languages aren’t generally as well researched as the q-Celtic languages, and Cornish least of all. My inquiries led me to understand that you speak it, or can at least provide me more knowledge of structure and vocabulary.”

Tegen nodded thoughtfully. “You amended your statement from speaking it to structure and vocabulary. Good. I learned a great deal of the old tongue from my mother, but my father knew -- well about as much as young Eggsy here.”

“Which means very little,” Eggsy said bringing the teapot to the table and sliding a cozy over it. 

Tegen smiled at him. “There’s fresh scones resting in the oven and clotted cream in the ice box.”

Eggsy grinned broadly and went to prepare plates for the scones.

Tegen smiled at Merlin. “ _Tas_ knew some fishing words from his work and some mining words from his youth -- Mamm didn’t have those words -- but most of what I know, words for sewing and cooking and cooing to a child are from Mamm.”

“I’d be interested in all of them, fishing, mining, domestic work. Even if we’ve already heard them, variations in pronunciation or just confirmation that they existed would be a help to my research. I’d also like to record you, on tape, telling your stories in Cornish and then in English, if that’s possible.”

“That’s a lot for one day,” Eggsy said. Tegen nodded.

“Actually, I was hoping for a couple of hours two or three days a week for the next three weeks. I’m staying at the Mount View. They have no problem packing me a lunch, and I’ll probably come by bicycle when I return.” He bit into the warm scone with clotted cream and sighed. “These are delicious.”

“Then I won’t hold it against you that you prepared yours wrong.” Tegen said with a twinkle.

“Jam, then cream in Cornwall. Cream first is from those heathens from Devon,” Eggsy said.

“I shall remember to do it correctly if I’m ever granted the privilege again,” Merlin said with a smile.

“Mornings are best for me,” Tegen said. “The hell of being old is how quickly your energy drains. Would nine or half nine work for you?”

“I can arrange an early breakfast at the pub.”

“Then nine. Not tomorrow, I see the doctor then, but the day after.”

“Nine on Thursday, it is.”

Eggsy said, “Leave your bike against the back wall and knock on this door, so Tegen can hear you.”

“Won’t you be here?”

“Maybe sometimes, but Thursday I have shopping to do.”

“Some other time then,” Merlin said. He turned to Tegen and said, “I’ll bring recording equipment with me next week, too, if that’s all right.”

“Perfectly fine, Merlin.”

After a last round of nods and goodbyes, Merlin left by the kitchen door.

Tegen looked at Eggsy and said, “Be careful, lad. You’re here to stay out of trouble, not get back into it.”

“I know, _modrep_ , I know.”

***  
Eggsy had a couple of pubs that he went to when he felt like a night out, but tonight he took his bike out of the shed and peddled to the pub at the Mount View Hotel. 

He smiled when he saw the offerings and ordered a Cornish Rattler. The barmaid handed him the bottle and a glass and he left her an extra shilling as he went over and found a table near the window. About than half an hour later, Merlin walked up to his table and said, “Another?”

“I’d like that,” Eggsy said.

Merlin got the same thing and joined him at the table. “Checking up on me?”

“A bit. _Modrep_ is a bit deaf, and her eyes aren’t as sharp as they were -- though I’d never tell her that. I figured it couldn’t hurt to at least make sure you were stayin’ where you said you were.”

Merlin sipped his cider and said, “Sensible.” There was a pause before he continued, “May I ask why you’re staying with your Aunt? You don’t seem like a country lad to me.”

“C’n ask. I won’t answer it all.” He glanced around the pub and Merlin nodded in understanding.

“Fair enough. So are you from here?”

“Nah, my family’s from Swansea. Mam’s family was from around St. Ives originally, but that’s at least two generations back. _Modrep_ is my grandmother’s first cousin. We call her _modrep_ to distinguish her from the other _fodryb_.”

“Padstow to Swansea?”

“Not that far by boat. That’s how _modrep_ met her husband, rest his soul, he was a fisherman from Penzance. Apparently it was quite a scandal that she went so far away. Mam was assigned to RAF Fairwood Common as a wireless operator, ‘least that what she told me she did. Dad was a navigator on Bristol Beaufighters.”

“He’s lucky to have survived the war.” 

“They both were.”

“And you. Why aren’t you part of the youth in Swinging London?”

Eggsy looked at his cider. “I was ‘til about six months ago. Needed some peace and quiet, and Tegen needed someone to look after her, like.”

“So a good arrangement for you both.”

Eggsy nodded. “I…” he glanced around the crowded pub. “Never mind. None o’ your business and wouldn’t discuss it here if it was.”

“Fair enough.” Merlin took a long drink of his cider. “So, you have at least some Cornish words and you speak some Welsh.”

“More than some. Stayed summers with my Mam’s family and worked fishing boats in the summers from the time I was thirteen. To my ear, there’s more similarity with Breton than Cornish, though neither’s easy.”

“Have you ever tried Manx?” Merlin asked.

“Never been to Man. Didn’t think it was the same group. What did you call it? P-Celtic?”

Merlin said, “Manx is unique. It’s both p- and q-Celtic. That’s why I wanted to know how much you understood.”

“Hmm. Maybe I’ll take a walking tour there sometime. Let you know how it goes for language.”

“I’d like that. It’s one of the problems we have. I can listen to Manx and pick up the q-Celtic strain, though, like you with Welsh, Gaelic was my summer language, not year ‘round. But there are also questions of accent. That’s why I want to hear your _modrep_ tell her story in Cornish. It’s our only way to figure out regional accents.”

“What about slang? Does that change from location to location or is it more generation to generation, like we’re seeing in London these days?”

 

Merlin smiled. “That’s an excellent question. I wished my students thought the same way.”

“Don’t they recognize colloquialisms?”

“They do, but, for most of them, their first thought is class difference. After that they go to either region or age, but rarely both.”

“To a certain extent in Wales and here it’s a total difference in language that indicates class. The English didn’t bother to learn Welsh or Cornish, mostly, and especially in Wales, the gentry was mostly English.”

“Aye, lad. We had our own problems of that sort in Scotland.”

“And let’s not talk about the Irish,” Eggsy sighed. 

“Best not.” Merlin sprang up and got in another round. “Breton. When were you in Brittany?”

“Told you I worked the fishing boats. Not all of what we did was fishing. Been to Brittany a few times, but only stayed for a longer time about a year ago. As long as I kept to the Breton speaking areas, I had no -- well, very little -- trouble being understood using Welsh.”

“Do you need work?”

“What?”

“I don’t know how long you’re planning to stay with Mrs. Pendray, but if you need work, I could use an assistant on several of my p-Celtic projects.”

Eggsy said, “I’ll probably want to stay with Tegen through the winter, at least, but come spring, I might be able to persuade my sister to come here for awhile and go earn a bit.”

“If we get on well, Eggsy, when my time here is over I’ll leave you my address and telephone number. I’ll probably have something for you when you’re ready to earn a bit.”

“Time gentlemen, please,” The barman called. The barmaid was working to pick up empties. The pub would close in ten minutes.

“I’d best be on my bike. Let’s see how we get on. A good job is nothing to be sneezed at.” Eggsy held out his hand and Merlin shook it.

“Maybe we’ll run into each other on Thursday, Eggsy. Good night.”

***  
Merlin didn’t see Eggsy until the following Monday when he brought his recording equipment with him. Eggsy helped him set up the reel to reel system which would allow him to record the accent and grammar more immediately. 

“If it’s all right with you, Tegen,” Merlin said, “I’d like to leave this here for our next two sessions.”

“Won’t you need it to record other people?” Eggsy asked.

“I left it at Mister Tremaine’s for Friday and Saturday when I went to record him. It means I don’t have to worry about it on the bike.”

“So you’re not interviewin’ anyone besides _Modrep_ Tegen?”

“I am doing the preliminaries with someone else -- a Miss Cheffers? -- tomorrow and taking Thursday to walk the coastal trail.”

“You sound busy,” Eggsy said.

“Better busy than not sufficiently occupied.”

“Modrep, I’m going to head out and look after the garden for a bit.”

Merlin seemed surprised. “You’re welcome to stay, lad.”

Tegen said, “It’s up to you.”

“I need to get to the weeding, but I’ll come back for tea in an hour or so. Maybe stay on Wednesday, if I’ve nought to do.” He smiled at both of them and headed out.

“He’s a good lad, good man, I should say. Looks after me well,” Tegen said. “Now what was it you wanted to hear about, Merlin.”

***  
On Thursday evening, Eggsy headed back to the Mount View for a drink. He didn’t know why he went there rather than going to his usual, where his mates would be drinking like as not, but when he saw Merlin at the bar, he had to admit the older man was part of the draw.

He was gratified when Merlin greeted him with a smile and insisted on getting the first round. As they’d done the previous week, they sat at a small table near the window to talk over their ciders. 

“How was your hike?” Eggsy asked.

“Not bad. Made it to Land’s End before I turned back. I may go to Coverack on Saturday and come back Sunday, since I’ll be done with your Aunt by then.”

“Did Miss Cheffers not work out?”

“She’s not all there, sadly. Her niece said that she still speaks Cornish, but it’s mixed with English and German from her war work.”

“Sorry to hear it. Has _modrep_ been any help to you?”

“Yes. I had some, maybe most, of the domestic words she used. The language is passed by women so often. We have a good number of mining words on file and she confirmed a few from her late husband’s family, but she was a treasure trove of fishing terms. We know that those terms are still used, but it’s been hard to find fishermen willing to talk to academics. I’ve tried at the docks, but…”

Eggsy laughed quietly. “Of course they’re not going to share, not with anyone who seems ‘official.’”

Merlin looked puzzled, so Eggsy explained. “I wasn’t just fishing when we went to Brittany. And much of the language they still have… well, it’s not that many years since -- let’s call it ‘salvage’ -- was a way to get a little extra money.”

“Salvage?”

“Keep your voice down. I’m sure it hasn’t happened since the war, but there’s a long memory of the wrecking crews around here. This is a treacherous coast.”

“I… you think that’s why people haven’t been willing to talk to me.”

Eggsy just shook his head with a smile. “I’ll get the next round in.”

When he came back, Merlin said, “Do you know any of the fishermen down here?”

“Tegen’s son runs a tourist boat out of Falmouth. He might have some connections. I know a few people here; helped around the docks during the winter when I didn’t have enough to do at Tegen’s, but I’m still from away, just as you are.”

“Do you think Tegen’s son might help me?”

“It’s possible. I could take you up to Falmouth by boat and introduce you.”

“You have a boat?”

“Just the small one that Tegen can’t bring herself to sell. I wouldn’t take it out much farther than St. Michael’s Mount, just for safety, but it’s a sturdy wooden fishing boat of the old sort. Good enough in sight of the coast.”

“Motorized?”

“Yes, though it can work under sail, too. It takes at least two for sailing. The boat only worked with three.”

“It can only hold three people?”

“No. I probably wouldn’t put more than eight or ten on it, but as a working boat, it would take two men to haul the nets. There was usually one in the cabin to keep an eye on the weather or to steer. Sometimes, he’d be the fish gutter when he didn’t have other duties. Was too young to go out much with Uncle Gerren, but I did a few times.”

“And when you said you helped at the docks?”

“Did some net mending. Helped haul fish to the packers. Gutted fish, if need be. Sometimes just helped them steer to Brittany.”

“What’s in Brittany?”

Eggsy said, “ _Eau de vie_ , mostly. Sometimes _eddu_ or _chouchen_. According to Mamm, butter, cheese, and milk were often brought back during the war. They was rationed here.”

Merlin nodded. “And Brittany’s train lines were often cut, so they’d likely have surplus. It makes sense, though black marketeering isn’t a good thing.”

“An awful lot of English kids was sent to Wales. Make curds and whey from the milk, have a little butter for the bread, make sure the pregnant women and the sick get the cheese and folks is more likely to survive, right?”

Merlin said, “I see your point.” There was a pause before he asked, “Another?”

“No, I should go back. D’you want me to take you to Falmouth next week?”

Merlin said, “I was going to ask you a favor, actually, I’d love to see St. Michael’s Mount. If the weather is good on Saturday or Sunday, would you get me there?”

“Saturday, yes. Sunday, Tegen makes me take her to church. But if the weather’s predicted fine, I’ll call here tomorrow night and let you know the schedule. I’m not taking something as small as my boat against the tide, so it may be an early start.”

“Fair enough. Not all academics have long lie-ins. I’ll see if the hotel will pack us both lunches.”

“Talk to you tomorrow evenin’ then. May see you in the mornin’, too.”

“I look forward to it, Eggsy.”

***  
On the following day, Eggsy left a note to meet at the docks at 7 a.m. Saturday. Merlin arranged for a large packed lunch for two and an early breakfast for himself. He found Eggsy amidst the morning bustle of fishmongers and they cast off by 7:30. 

“It shouldn’t take us long. Surprised you didn’t just walk out by the causeway.”

Merlin turned his face up to the sun and took a deep breath of sea air. “I wanted to see how you handled the boat before we went to Falmouth.”

“Do I pass muster, then?”

“I’ll tell you after we land safely.”

Eggsy chuckled. “Thanks for bringing the picnic. Anything in particular we’re looking at today?”

“Not really. I just find it fascinating, this Michael’s Mount and Mont Saint Michel, even the chapel of Saint Michael at Glastonbury tor.”

“Well, he can fly, can’t he. Makes sense he’d be found in high places.”

Merlin laughed. “I’ve no doubt that’s part of it. You’re very bright. Did you consider university?”

“Only long enough to realize I needed to be out in the world earnin’, like. If Wilson’s scheme comes through, I may try the Open University.”

“You don’t think it will happen?”

“In London, I did. Here, or in Wales, it seems like a pipe dream. The cities already have the chance, with the red bricks, though not enough options for part-time. In the country, or in the parts that London forgets most of the time…” Eggsy steered them into the little village at the base of the Mount and found anchorage.

Merlin seemed thoughtful.

Eggsy asked, “Is it different in Scotland?”

“In some ways. We had four universities when England only had two.”

“Edinburgh, I guess.”

“Yes, but it was the last of the four founded. Saint Andrews, Aberdeen, and Glasgow all came beforehand. We value education, but that may just be that the winter nights are so long that there isn’t much to do besides reading or mending.”

“C’n see that,” Eggsy said. “If the battlements are open today, it might be clear enough to see to Brittany?”

“Is that really possible?”

“If we’re high enough and it’s clear enough the western tail of England can see the western hump of France, right around Brest.”

“Amazing.”

There was a long pause as they walked up the steeper path to the castle. Merlin finally asked, “Why did you leave London, Eggsy?”

Eggsy shook his head. “Let me think about it.”

Merlin nodded and they continued their walk.

Three hours later, they found a quiet spot and broke out their picnic. There were thick ham sandwiches on country bread with sharp mustard, a small pasty each, bottles of cider, and a bowl of fresh blackberries for them to have for dessert. 

“They really pushed out the boat for you,” Eggsy said. “You must pay well.”

“They’re putting up with odd hours. It’s the least I can do.”

“Why’re you studyin’ Celtic languages? Tryin’ to prove we got the wrong Queen?”

“I’m Protestant, lad, no king over the water for me.” Merlin smiled and thought for a moment. “New languages are arising out of dialects, but old languages are dying or, like Cornish, have no fully native speakers any more. We need to document the old languages, if only to understand how some of our current language works.”

“New languages?”

“Well, as an example, Dutch, Flemish, and Afrikaans are all, at some level, the same. Afrikaans was considered a dialect of Dutch until fairly recently, but like your adventures in Breton, they are now classified as separate languages even though there’s a certain level of mutual intelligibility. Flemish has long been considered a separate language, but, with the Benelux and now the EEC, they are teaching standard Dutch in their schools and Flemish is dying out with a few colloquial exceptions.”

Eggsy sipped his cider and said, “Got it. It’s fascinatin’ -- I mean, I c’n see why you study it, an’ all.”

There was a long pause as they enjoyed the shade and their picnic. 

Finally, Eggsy said, “Was arrested ‘bout two months before comin’ to look after Tegan. The charges was dropped, so no stain on me record, but a couple o’ weeks later, someone slipped me a doctored drink.”

“Doctored?”

“LSD. Most o’ the trip weren’t too bad, but there were a couple o’ dangerous moments. On the one hand, me friends got me through the bad parts. On the other, they deliberately drugged me to ‘open my mind’.” He shook his head. “Had to leave after that. I hadn’t found good work, either, so…”

Merlin said, “I’m sorry it happened to you. May I ask what you were accused of?”

Eggsy looked away. “Cottaging. Was caught in a raid at a public loo. The other men there all testified that I’d just walked in as the cops got there.”

“Ah.”

“You ain’t goin’ to ask if I knew?”

“Did you?”

“Yeah.”

“You’re over twenty-one. Homosexuality has been decriminalised.”

“Doesn’t change how people feel about it.”

Merlin said, “No, it doesn’t. It can be difficult even for a professor of philology at New College, Oxford.”

Eggsy’s eyes widened. “Really?”

Merlin nodded. “Does Mrs. Pendray know?”

“Whole family does. She an’ me sister are the ones still speakin’ to me. Mam says, rightly, there’s no smoke without fire…”

“There’s frequently smoke without fire in both the literal and figurative senses.”

“But in this case, she’s right.” Eggsy said. 

Merlin could hear the wistfulness in his voice. “Eggsy, don’t let this define you.”

“Nah. It was bad, but the LSD thing is what broke me. Couldn’t believe people I thought was friends would betray me like that. If they’d asked, I might’ve. I mean, I hadn’t before, but it was part of my mates’ lives. My mind was changin’ ‘bout it. To just give it to me…” he shook his head.

“It was unconscionable,” Merlin said.

“If I knew what that meant, I’d probably agree with you.” Eggsy gave him a sad smile.

“Unconscionable means…”

Eggsy interrupted him. “Got a dictionary at home. I like to learn for myself.”

“It’s a pity you never applied to university. You’d have been a good student.”

Eggsy started to clean up their picnic. 

Merlin watched, collecting the trash as Eggsy put things back in the basket. “I didn’t invite you to work for me because I’m attracted to you,” he said.

Eggsy looked up in surprise. “Does that mean you aren’t attracted?”

Merlin said, “No. I am, but I had no idea that you might be amenable. I still don’t, but at least I know you probably won’t try to break my nose for mentioning it.”

“Your nose looks fine as it is.”

“You have a good mind, in that you ask good questions. I’d like to use that, if you’re interested in the work, if you’re amenable to being based in Oxford.”

“Haven’t talked to my sister ‘bout it yet, but I was already considerin’ the idea. I’d like to learn more ‘bout languages and how people think.”

Merlin smiled. “That’s what I mean by a good mind. There may be a difference in how people understand ideas depending upon their milk tongue and what other languages they’ve learned.”

They walked over to the rubbish bin and then toured some more of the castle.

***  
When the tide started coming in, they left the island and made their way back to the slip at Penzance slowly.

When they were about halfway, Eggsy broke the silence by saying, “I find you attractive, too. Just so you know, like.”

Merlin smiled at him, and they finished their trip to the mainland in silence.

***  
“I c’n do Tuesday, Wednesday, or Friday for Falmouth, if you’re still wantin’ to go,” Eggsy said after they’d made the boat fast in the slip.

“I think Tuesday would be best, but can I call you on Monday to let you know?”

“Should be home by five on Monday. Call after that.”

“Thank you, Eggsy.”

 

  
  


***  
The conversations ranged widely as they took Eggsy’s boat to Falmouth.  
Tegen’s son, Jory, was more than willing to help Eggsy out and by extension Merlin, by introducing them to fellow boatmen, especially the fishermen.

Eggsy quietly asked a few of the older men about stories of the wrecking crews and “brandy” smuggling, noting the local words they used and asking about the War and rationing, mining it for more words.

They stayed overnight with Jory and his family, and, at the pub that evening, heard a performance of folk songs. One was in Breton, three were in Welsh, and there were even a few in English. The rest of them were local songs sung in Cornish. Merlin spoke with the band afterward and asked if they could arrange a time and place for him to record the songs in p-Celtic dialects. 

Once back in Penzance, Eggsy typed up his notes using a method Merlin had once heard called “hunt and punt.” For Merlin’s final week in Cornwall, Eggsy, when he had time, came to Merlin’s hotel and they worked in the front room at the inn -- for a fee Eggsy was sure -- putting together a chart of words, meanings, and, where possible, the closest word with the same phonemes (a new word to Eggsy) in Welsh, Breton, or both.

“Merlin?”

“Yes?” He looked up and peered at Eggsy over his glasses for close work.

“Tegen invited you to tea tomorrow, if you’d like to come.”

“I’d love to.” He was about to turn back to his work, but noticed Eggsy puzzling over something.

Finally, Eggsy said, “Aunt in Welsh is ‘ _fordryb_ ,’ but Auntie is ‘ _modryb_ ’. Aunt or Auntie in Cornish is ‘ _modrep_.’”

“So far, so good,” Merlin said.

“Does that mean that the sound for the letter b becomes p over time? Or is it the other way around? And how does f get to m?”

“Those are some of the questions that I and my colleagues are studying. Frankly, we don’t know, not fully. We think that the vowel may change and the consonant comes with it, but it’s only speculation at this point.”

“Honestly,” Eggsy said, “the y in Welsh -- at least in the middle of a word -- isn’t that different from the e in Cornish. I assumed it was the English who made that change from one to the other.”

“Quite possibly. I know they damaged Erse and Gaelic.”

“Erse?”

“Goidelich -- or as it’s mostly known nowadays, Gaelic -- is technically the same language on either side of the Irish Sea. There are some differences, colloquialisms and the like, but there are probably fewer than between Welsh and Cornish or Breton. With the Irish reclaiming their language since they left the United Kingdom, they’ve begun using the older word for it, Erse. As more people speak it, there will probably be more drift, so philologists are already distinguishing them in casual conversation.”

“In other words, they’re the same thing, but the Irish and the Scottish won’t cooperate with each other even on what to call it.” Eggsy sounded both amused and bemused.

Merlin burst out laughing. “That’s about the size of it, Eggsy. It really is.”

“How much longer will you be workin’ on this project, Merlin?”

“This specific one? I’ll be done next week when I briefly go back to Oxford. The whole problem? I doubt it will be completed in my lifetime.”

“An’ it don’t bother you? That you won’t see its end?”

“I’d love to find the one word or phrase that let’s me know which language is oldest, purest among the p-Celtic dialects. Maybe even trace back and find the link between it and the oldest form of q-Celtic. It would let us know more about where we came from, we Celts. I have colleagues who deal with what’s known as the Matter of Britain, and it might also help their research.”

“Matter of Britain?”

“Early origins of the Arthurian legends.”

“Like Uther and Ygraine at Tintagel.”

Merlin nodded. “And the stories from the Mabinogian. How did Peredur get to France and become Percival or Germany to become Parsifal?”

“Couldn’t it have come the other way? Some Frenchman wrote about Percival and the Bretons talked to the Welsh who came up with Peredur?”

Merlin said, “You ask excellent questions, Eggsy. The current dating we have suggests it went from Wales to France, but we can’t really be certain, not without doing further, deeper analyses. That’s what keeps me fascinated.”

Eggsy went back to his work, but about a quarter of an hour later he asked. “Was you serious about havin’ a job for me? Continuin’ this type o’ thing?”

“Absolutely. I own my house. It has a garden flat, just two rooms with a kitchen and bath. It’s yours, if you come to Oxford.”

“I pay me own way.”

“Or we can include it as part of your salary at least until you’ve decided whether you want to stay on permanently.”

Eggsy nodded to himself. “I hafta think ‘bout it. Make arrangements with me sister or someone about _Modrep _Tegan an’ all.”__

__“I’d expect no less, Eggsy. I’ll leave you my address. We’ll write and set up firmer dates, if you’re able to share your responsibilities.”_ _

__“I think that sounds ‘bout right, Merlin.”_ _

__***  
After a fine tea where Merlin had remembered the correct Cornish order for jam and cream, he let Eggsy take him on a walk up the hills. _ _

__“There’s a good spot to see the whole area. It should be clear enough to see Saint Michael’s Mount and mayhap the coast of Brittany, since we’ll be a ways up.”_ _

__Merlin smiled and followed where he led. The view from the top of the hill was lovely. The late afternoon sun glinted off the water. The tide was coming in and the boats in the bay were bobbing as it rose. Saint Michael’s Mount looked like it had been painted on a perfect blue background and faintly, on the horizon, there was a hint of chalk hills indicating that Brittany was indeed in view._ _

__It was a huge surprise when Eggsy, slightly higher up the hill, leaned over and kissed him sweetly._ _

__“Been wantin’ to do that since we went to Saint Michael’s Mount,” Eggsy said. A faint blush tinted his cheeks._ _

__“Eggsy, I…”_ _

__“Shouldn’t o’ done it, I guess.”_ _

__Merlin touched his shoulders and leaned forward to kiss him again. “The only shouldn’t is people could see us. It may not be criminal, but it’s still looked askance.”_ _

__“‘Looked askance?’ That’s a fancy way to say we could be beaten like mashed spuds.”_ _

__“I’d like to be more to you than a mentor or employer, but I also don’t want you to think that this is why I enjoyed your company so much. Or why I think you’d be a good fit working in my department at college or any of it. I like you. I’d like to know you better -- not just physically, you understand, but really know more about you.”_ _

__“I didn’t think it was all physical, but I had to kiss you. Just had to.”_ _

__Merlin slipped an arm around him and said, “You’re a beautiful man, Eggsy. You have a good mind. I’m not going to invite you to my bedroom tonight.”_ _

__“Was thinkin’ more about spreading our coats here. Less likely to run into anyone.” Eggsy wore a smile and had a glint in his eye._ _

__“Cheeky. Let’s write, as we said. You can come to me at Hilary term just after the new year. As my employee or my lover or both -- as a full partner in my life -- if that’s what you choose, but I don’t want to rush us.”_ _

__“C’n understand that. Truly. So, we’ll write.”_ _

__Merlin said, “I’m not going straight home, not for more than a few days. I’m meeting up with some friends in the south of France and then going to see my family in Scotland. I’ll be back in Oxford by the end of August, maybe a little sooner.”_ _

__“So don’t ‘spect answers until September, is what you’re sayin’.”_ _

__“Yes, I guess I am. I’ll write you from France and, if I can, share my address then.”_ _

__“I trust you, Merlin.”_ _

__They kissed again as the sun warmed them and broke when a cool breeze began to come up from the bay._ _

__They walked back to Merlin’s inn in comfort and silence._ _

__***  
On New Year’s Eve, just before the decade changed from sixty to seventy, Eggsy knocked on a door in Oxford. _ _

__Merlin grinned as he opened the door and brought Eggsy across his threshold. They kissed when the door closed and, later, when the bells began to ring in the New Year, they cuddled beside each other, ready to start their new life._ _


End file.
